So the real issue that comes up here is that you have at the end of 23-24. Matthews, Nylander, Sandin, Liljegren all expiring and all expected to get significant raises. You still have Konecny on that contract (which isn’t an awful contract, just hard to fit it in)

Bunting making 5M feels like a pretty high

Agreed. I know accessory players get paid too... but Bunting is not a $5mil player. I like what he brings, and I know his stat line is decent-- but if he even makes more than $3.5 I would be extremely disappointed in how the contract was negotiated.

A few problems. 1, Bunting makes too much and Kampf and Samsonov don't make enough. 2. it might work for next year but what about going forward. There is a reason why the leafs have given out so many short term deals. I've said this before but I don't see how the leafs can afford a player making over 4 mill. Even Bunting I wouldn't pay more than that

Probably.. But I'm expecting the number to be a bit higher than what people are expecting. And I tried to play this out as sort of a worst case scenario.
Seems apparent that the leafs will go long term to bring the cap hit down, and hopefully it's below 4.5m

Samonov's contract obviously entirely depends on how the rest of the season plays out. But so far it really looks like he's at the level that a lot of people predicted, and that doesn't exactly necessitate a raise.

It will definitely be a challenge. But the prediction is that the cap will go up by a significant amount for that season. Gary's original claim was 4m for next season so my hope is that it will be at least that much for the following season. Auston and Willy probably required ~5m for their raises and Brodie will be off the books then when he enters his twilight years.
The 2 sweDes will be a challenge for sure but all long as the Buds don't have any **** contracts, the cap sheet can always be restructured.

Fair point. It was reported that he was offered more term and money but choose to sign with the leafs because of opportunity. I'd imagine he's currently on pace for about 3 mill but as you say, it will depend on how the rest of the year plays out

Yeah, and leafs can continue to go cheap in goal. No need to stick with someone. Can even trade away Murray if needed.
Obviously the most important year is 24/25 but so much can change between now and then.
And as long as the contracts aren't untradeable, the leafs can always offload a piece or two in order to lock up the big guns.

I just think the most important thing is to get value from their trades. Which means to high cost rentals.
If the guys they trade for has a couple years at a mid-range cap hit, it's a situation that can be dealt with at a later time.

I know you're joking but that has literally been what Dubas has done. I'm tired of seeing this team cap strapped every year and while also complaining about their D and their top six outside of the stars. That's a hard balance for sure but I'm just saying, spend money wisely and make sure that you hit when you do sign or trade a player